Cybersecurity in times of peace: a global norms perspective

• Grant number: 17/22318-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Matias Spektor
• Grantee: Barrie James Sander
• Host Institution: Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil (CPDOC). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Emerging as a new domain of human interaction in the second half of the twentieth century, cyberspace has become woven into the fabric of societies around the world. As societies have expanded their digital footprint, significant opportunities have arisen for social and economic development, as well as government transparency and efficiency. Equally, however, the burgeoning dependence of societies on information and communication technologies (ICTs) to control many of their critical infrastructures and communications systems has also been accompanied by increasingly frequent and varied threats and vulnerabilities, creating a new dimension of global insecurity. Responding to the exponential growth of cyber insecurity, a near-consensus has emerged in recent years amongst stakeholders ranging from states and industry actors to civil society groups and academic institutions that the development of cyber technologies has generated threats that should be addressed through cooperation, with cybersecurity norms becoming one of the most favoured vehicles for this purpose. Against this background, this proposal seeks to establish a 24-month postdoctoral research project at FGV's School of International Relations in São Paulo to examine how "peacetime cybersecurity" - encompassing responses to cyberthreats that fall below the thresholds of use of force and armed conflict under international law - has been managed by the diverse stakeholders who participate in cyberspace across the world. Relying on constructivist and normative international relations theory, the project aims to identify which peacetime cybersecurity norms have emerged and been subject to contestation amongst state and non-state actors, as well as the factors that explain cyber norm dynamics over time. By illuminating how and why norms emerge with respect to particular issue-areas of peacetime cybersecurity, this project seeks to advance the understanding of international relations scholars and policymakers concerning norm dynamics in general, and cybernorms dynamics in particular within the complexities of cyberspace.